Ariel's Unexpected Adventure
by Featherofstars
Summary: Ariel leaves home to join a pokemon academy, with only an empty pokeball and the backpack she brought from home with her. When things don't turn out as planned, she must take her new pokemon with her, on an adventure she will never forget.
1. Chapter 1

Ariel clutched the empty pokeball to her as she stumbled through the double doors of the school. Her brown eyes were wide and she was shaking with fear, her stomach performing acrobatics within her as it flip-flopped in her anxiety. She was alone in the hallway, and the sun glared in from the windows, creating a glossy glow over the tile flooring as she tried her best to walk across it slowly. _I shouldn't be here_, she thought to herself. _I'm not supposed to be a pokemon trainer. I'm not supposed to even have a pokeball. They're going to throw me out of here. _Her heart pounded louder in her chest at every step further down the hallway she managed to make it.

"Now, class, today we're going to be learning about how to make your pokemon more friendly towards you," She heard a man say, from a classroom further down the hall. She stopped dead. She knew that she didn't belong here, that she had come from too poor of a town for her to be able to finance a pokemon adventure, but she felt so nervous. What if they turned her down? She took a deep breath and coaxed herself to continue. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Her palms were clammy, causing her grip on the pokeball within her hands to tighten unintentionally. It popped from grip and she let out a quiet gasp as it clattered noisily to the floor. "What was that?" She heard the man from the classroom inquire, and then footsteps followed. Ariel could only stand there as the man walked out into the hallway and met Ariel's eyes.

"Who are you?" He demanded, advancing towards her. She snatched her pokeball and shrank away in fear. "You shouldn't be here, young lady! Get out at once!"

Ariel's eyes grew even wider, as she saw heads of the pupils poke out from the doorway of their classroom. A slow red blush of embarrassment burned across her face and she stammered an apology, before racing, her heart falling in dissapointment, to the doorway. She burst through the door and wiped away the forming tears from her eyes. _What am I going to do?_ She began to worry. _I can't go home. Mother will be furious after she finds the letter I left. _

She sniffled once, as her breath choked in her throat, tears forming once more in her eyes. No. She had to be strong. She sucked in a deep breath of air and looked around, to see if anyone around the area had seen the almost breakdown she had nearly come to. Good. No one.

Sighing, feeling almost lost, she tightened the straps of her backpack and began to walk away from the school, her one hope at having a pokemon. At getting to explore, and to see new things. She hung her head and kicked at the stones on the ground, defeated.

"Hey, wait!"

Her head snapped up, and she whirled, finding that she had been followed by an older looking boy. He was waving to her, almost as though he was afraid she wouldn't see him. When he caught up to her, he was a little out of breath, but smiled politely and said, "My name is Sam." He stuck out his hand for Ariel to shake, but she glanced down at him, and back up at his face, and tightened her grip on her backpack straps.

"And?" She asked. Sam seemed taken aback. He brushed his hand back, behind his head, laughing nervously.

"I saw what happened in there," he said, "With the professor. Look, don't let him get you down, he's just a cranky old man."

Ariel glared. "Yes, I'm fully aware. I'm obviously not welcome here, so I'll be on my way." She spat the words at him, like venom, and whirled, beginning to walk away. Sam blinked, startled, but when he was able to regain his thoughts, he began once more to chase after Ariel.

"Pokemon?" He asked her, "Is that what you came here for?"

She glanced at him, fire burning in her eyes so bright he could almost feel the heat. "Yes," She said curtly. "But it seems I sauntered in to a preppy 'boys only' pokemon academy. So I don't get any."

Sam slumped, realizing it was not going to be easy to befriend this girl. He walked alongside her, not speaking. He studied her face, and what she was carrying, and came to the conclusion that she had left home to become a pokemon trainer, and having been let down, meant she was alone, and that, more likely than not, wouldn't be able to return home for the shame of what she had done. "Do you want a pokemon?" Sam asked, quietly.

Ariel stopped. She hadn't believed she'd heard him correctly. "You're offering me a pokemon?" She asked, and Sam nodded.

"Just because you're not able to afford or catch one doesn't mean you shouldn't have one," he told her, and saw her expression softened lightly. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Come on, I'll take you to my grandfather's farm. He has _tons _of species of pokemon."


	2. Chapter 2

Ariel couldn't help but look around as they walked down the dirt path to Sam's grandfather's farm. They were under a canopy of trees, and ahead, she could see a break in them, opening up to a field surrounded by a wooden fence. Glancing up in the trees, she heard the sounds of Starlys and Swellows singing, but couldn't see them anywhere. She assumed that they were resting in their nests, and felt momentarily envious. Returning home was impossible for her, and she knew it.

Sam led her through the wooden gate into the field. They walked along a dirt road that winded through the tall grass, and to a small ranch house. Sam called loudly for his grandfather, who hobbled out to meet them. He leaned on a wooden, crooked stick as he peered at Ariel with wide, curious eyes, almost like a small child. Sam introduced her, as much as he could, and explained that she wished to become a pokemon trainer. Sam's grandfather grinned, showing a mouth full of rotting or missing teeth, and hobbled through the yard. As they walked, Ariel noticed the Meowths and Pursians lying in the shade of the trees, sleeping, and the Miltanks and the Flaaffy out in the distant fields, as well as a few Ponytas in their own fields.

She followed Sam and his grandfather into the barn, where they were met with the sounds of a dozen newly hatched Eevees crying out for attention. They scrambled and stumbled over one another as they leaped up onto Sam's grandfather. He chuckled, picking one up, and rubbing it gently behind the ears, set it down.

Ariel's eyes took a moment to adjust to the light change as they entered the barn, but when they did, she took in everything she saw. In various stables were mixtures of spoink, grumpigs, Mareep, Rapidash, and a Jolteon and a Vaporeon. She couldn't believe how many pokemon this man had on his farm.

Sam picked up an Eevee, and attempted to give it to Ariel. "Here," he offered her, but she didn't seem to hear him, as she took a tentative step further into the barn. She continued to look around, until her eyes locked on what seemed to be a forgotten pokemon in the shadows of the barn. She could only make out it's eyes, which looked frightened and innocent, and she knelt, trying to coax it out of it's hiding spot. After a minute or so, out squirmed a small growlithe. It whined and shook itself off, dirt and dust flying everywhere.

"Grandpa, what's that?" Sam asked, and Ariel, finding the growlithe squirming into her arms, answered.

"It's a growlithe," she breathed, petting it's tiger patterned fur gently. Sam's grandfather nodded.

"It seems to like you," he decided, then chuckled. "Good. Then I get to get rid of a stray."

"Stray?" Ariel echoed, setting the growlithe down. "Who would abandon a growlithe like this?"

Sam's grandfather shrugged, and turned, hobbling back toward the house. Sam glanced down at the growlithe, which had already clearly grown attatched to Ariel. "It looks like you've got yourself a pokemon," He grinned, and Ariel managed a feeble smile. _So I do,_ she thought, _But I have absolutely no idea how to train it._

"Are you going to catch it?" Sam questioned, and Ariel was jolted from her momentary, grim realization. She dug the pokeball from her backpack, and knelt once more. She let the growlithe sniff it, and then it barked, it's tail wagging back and forth, thinking it was a regular ball, and that Ariel wished to play.

"No," she whispered, and set the ball down before the pokemon. It sniffed it once more, and, it's small black nose touching the button, the ball opened. The growlithe turned into a red hologram and sucked into the ball, before the ball closed. Ariel watched it wiggle, with anticipation, but the growlithe put up little struggle, as the ball became still. Ariel picked it up, looking at it momentarily, before beginning to stuff it back into her backpack.

"Are you just going to take it and leave, and not even bother treating it fairly?" Sam inquired, startled. "You know, you're supposed to let it out of it's pokeball, for the first few hours after you catch it, right?"

"Uh, no," Ariel answered, her voice merely a small squeak. Her face burned red once more with embarrassment and she pulled the pokeball from her backpack once more, letting her new pokemon out of it's ball. The growlithe barked happily when it saw her, and began to jump up and down. She took note of the way it already seemed to be attached to her, and wondered if other pokemon trainers had that same bond with all of their pokemon.

"You do know how to train it, right?" Sam clarified, and Ariel looked up, meeting his eyes. Sam could visibly see the utter confusion in her eyes and nodded. He had figured she was about clueless when it came to training pokemon. He gestured for her to follow him, and growlithe stumbling over his own puppy-like feet to keep up, Ariel followed.


End file.
